#orianda

[glfc2112]

Here is the recently visualizer for the Rush song “The Analog Kid.”  It is off their 1982 album Signals. The song originates from when the band stayed at Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands in January 1982, travelling on a yacht that was named Orianda. At first, Neil wrote the song as a companion piece to “Digital Man” which they started working on in late 1981 and presented to Geddy.  Peart and Lee talked about what could be done with the lyrics in a musical sense. They eventually decided on the opposite on what the words may suggest, with Peart describing the track as "a very up-tempo rocker, with some kind of a dynamic contrast for the choruses". Peart said the song was his first attempt at non-fiction: "For the longest time I stepped into characters until I had my own confidence and technique to be able to step outside them as a writer."

[drugastraian]

Pijama dama satin Orianda ADCP0152 Adictiv

https://www.adictiv.ro/pijamale-dama/pijama-dama-satin-orianda-adcp0152-adictiv.html

[orlenvalanci]

I'm from Anbinorya, but my family's originally from the Equatorial West. Haladel, Orianda, few other places in that region. K

haladel, huh? i was born and raised there in case it's not obvious

[jkontumblr]

undefined

Orianda Grinder

[otmacamera]

Photo 1-2 : Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova and Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna in Livadia, 20th April 1912.

Photo 3-4 : Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna in the courtyard of the Livadia Palace, 20th April 1912.

20th April. Friday. Didn't have lessons. Went and sold white flowers everywhere in Livadia and Orianda. [...] Smirnov and Semenov T.Sh. had breakfast with us. In the afternoon, Papa and the others left for Simeiz, and we 4 were with Mama, Anya and NP. Rodionov, Babitsyn and Sashka V. walked with us and all drank tea together in the house. It was very good. I see AKShv who rode past. Had dinner with Mama, Papa and others and in the evening we put together a puzzle.

(1912 Diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna)

Photos from : Tsar Nicholas II 1911-1913 Album Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna's 1912-1916 Album

[desimonewayland]

Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Werke der höheren Baukunst, 1848, (Tafel 4). Orianda Palace in the Crimea. Antique-style design. Porch of the Maidens

Colour lithograph

Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

[hadrian6]

Interior Perspective of the Great Hall, Looking Towards the Garden Court. From Palaces, a set of prints of the Palace on the Akropolis, Athens, and the Orianda Palace in the Crimea.   Heinrich Asmus after Karl Friedrich Schinkel .             http://hadrian6.tumblr.com

[mashkaromanova]

Alexandra Feodorovna, April 1914

“My dear Onor,

A thousand thanks for your dear letter. I can imagine how busy Ernie is and how interesting, though tiring it must be. It is a pity this prevented you from coming to see us, something we regret terribly. Everything reminds me of you all - each meadow of flowers recalls memories of Wilhelmino and it makes me so sad that this dear, devoted soul will never be with us again. Ernie’s improvements to the grounds show up now more than in the autumn, and we are installing new Italian benches ect. in the garden. All his good advice has been taken into consideration - the irises have come up fine, and the small Japanese garden is looking so lovely - the African one, too. A pergola (like Minny’s) with columns (less attractive) from Orianda is to go up in the meadow by the sea where Livadia borders on to Orianda.

We have started to make necklaces again, the only thing missing are busy little helping hands, so now Sablin and I have to make he ‘Schwänzchen’ for them. - Nicky is raising his eyebrows as he did at the dinner party in Berlin and is thinking of you. We are taking tea inside, as it is still a little cool at 5 o’clock. - I am feeling much better and so is Alexei. The roses haven’t started blooming yet, unlike the lilac, wisteria and chestnut trees - all the trees are turning green - it is so lovely - only you are missing. -

We have no definite plans for the autumn yet, are thinking of going to Spala so as not to be so far away again. If we only knew how the weather would be. Alexei needs sunshine and a dry climate - Spala has sandy soil like our pine forests at home - but two years ago and last autumn it rained a lot there. - Before that we will have ‘crowned guests’ as well as Victoria and manoeuvres and the skerries briefly - it is difficult to fit everything in to one short summer. - It is Saturday, the others are having dinner downstairs, and I must go up to Baby right away and say prayers with him. - I have been very busy with building projects - several sanatoriums are currently being built - and then we want to start on my rehabilitation centre - I hope the bazaar will bring in a lot of money.

Tatiana Konstantinovna gave birth to a baby daughter on Easter Sunday and the baptism will take place at Kichkine on Tuesday where she spent the autumn and winter with her Uncle Dimitri. When you were here the house was still being built - it is towards Harax. Soon Georgy, Minny, the children and little Marie will be coming. The ‘Blacks’ have already arrived. Kostia and Mavra are living in an uncomfortable house rented from Minny. -

But now I must end. I kiss you 4 tenderly. God bless you. Your devoted sister Alix.

[P.S.] We have dispatched 90 Cypress trees - I hope they will thrive on the Rosenhöhe. - Toni Ehrhardt sends me news regularly - it is really horrible what the poor child has to go through and I sympathise with the poor parents. -”

- Alexandra to Eleonore of Hesse and by Rhine, 11th/24th April 1914

[visionsofour-past]

• Orianda.

Date: August 1911

Place of origin: Russia

Photographer: Herbert Galloway

~ The photograph shows, from left to right, Mr Urieff, Countess Komarovsky, H. H. Prince Nikita Alexandrovitch, Miss Evreynova, Princess Irina Alexandrovna, H. H. Prince Andrew Alexandrovitch, H. H. Prince Demetri Alexandrovitch, H. H. Prince Rostislav Alexandrovitch and H. H. Prince Feodor Alexandrovitch on the palace steps at Orianda (thought to be a misspelling of Oreanda). Taken by Herbert Galloway Stewart in The Crimea in August 1911.

[dent-de-leon]

Now that Romelle is here, what do you think they’ll do with her plot-line? Do you think there might be forced romance with her?

ookkkkaayy,,, I think I’ve gotten….I dunno, but Very Many asks about Romelle, in particular people being afraid of Romelle, everyone already worrying she will destroy x ship or y ship, people upset that she “wrecked” Lotor’s character development, ect, so…let’s just talk about Romelle for a moment, because I really do like her. Also prefacing everything with this: fans can enjoy whatever ships they want, regardless of the eventual outcome. And I don’t think anyone should be afraid of Romelle or hate her because of potential ships. Now, that said:

First things first, Romelle’s not the reason Lotor’s character is the way he is. There’s literally no rationalizing that–they didn’t write Lotor to suit Romelle’s character arc, they wrote Romelle’s backstory to suit his. Since episode one, there’s been buildup for Lotor’s character heading down this route. He was always going to fail his redemption arc. In one interview, the show runners even saw people comparing Lotor’s supposed redemption to Zuko’s, and they admitted their intention was always for him to end up going “full Azula” isntead. Before season 6, there was also plenty of talk about how, no matter your intentions, there’s just certain actions that go beyond redemption. Lotor was responsible for horrible things happening to Romelle in the original series too, so I think it’s fitting for things to end up this way–and for his treatment of Romelle and her brother to ultimaely be his undoing. 

I really like the way Romelle was written in VLD, actually. She’s not a chosen hero like the others. She’s this very sweet supporting character. She can’t even fight, but she still has the courage to go chasing after Bandor and manages to escape from Lotor. She doesn’t have a weapon or even a shield, she’s just…herself. She doesn’t have that gift of Altean magic either, she’s not a great alchemist or healer like Allura is. And that’s just kind of refreshing in a series like this I think, that she basically had nothing but still had this drive to take down Lotor, as impossible as it seemed. 

Her lack of magic seems to have even saved her–she’s denied access to the “new colony” because she doesn’t pass the test. If Lotor’s harvesting the “purest” quintessence, then I think his intention was to draw from Sacred Alteans–those that are more “magical,” like Allura and Lotor. So when you look at her character through that lens, I think it’s especially tragic. Her parents had the gift. Her brother had it. But Romelle alone isn’t a chosen one, doesn’t have the potential to be a Life Giver, and she ends up being saved because of it. The rest of her family might have been able to enter the paradise of Oriande, but instead they’re  tortured to a slow agonizing death. Romelle might not have had that magical potential in her blood, but instead, she manages to do something no one else on the colony can–she sees the truth about Lotor. 

Honestly, I also don’t think it makes any sense to bring in a love interest for a major character this late in the game. People have expressed fear about her ending up with Keith or Shiro especially, but both of those characters are also notoriously closed off from others, and I can’t imagine them so readily bonding with someone new. Not for anything, but if she were going to end up with either Shiro or Keith, then I think we would have at least gotten some buildup or indication of that. It seems to me that Romelle is really a side character–possibly she’ll end up being a little more important of a side character, like Matt, but for now she’s only spoken in a single episode. 

She also wasn’t involved with Shiro’s resurrection at all, nor did she have a romantic coded sort of scene during the revival–which I would expect if they were going to push for a sudden love interest. I think fans also forget very quickly, but with Hunk and Shay, we saw that potential for them as a couple literally the first time they meet. Even Keith and Shiro’s first scene, as well we Lance and Allura’s first meeting–both of those scenes seem romantically coded. I mean, when Matt first sees Allura, he’s got the little heart eyes. 

But Shiro doesn’t even seem to really notice Romelle, nor she him. Keith doesn’t completely hit it off with her either. I just think that this isn’t the way VLD would introduce the love interest for a major character. She didn’t seem particularly attached to Keith either, and just sort of follows Krolia around the castle instead. Then, rather than leaving the castle on Keith/Shiro’s Lion, she chooses to go with the Alteans–a nice touch, I think. I’m not sure why people are also incredibly afraid of some forced Shiro/Romelle thing because I mean…?? It’s not like VLD has ever tried to exactly replicate relationships in DOTU?? 

Keith/Allura was made a thing in the 80′s dub, but it’s clear Lance/Allura have all the romantic buildup in VLD. Zarkon/Haggar wasn’t a thing in DOTU either, and Keith’s mother wasn’t galra. Even if you think they’re going to copy Romelle’s romance from DOTU exactly, then–1, she never even met Takashi in the original, the person she knew was Ryou. And 2, in the dub, she ends up with ‘Sven’–who is literally already his own seperate character in VLD. So, yeah…I’m not sure why…everyone’s terrified?? Besides that, the show runners have already said they’re not going to force in relationships, that any romantic developments will be organic. Forced romance doesn’t really have a place in an action series like this anyway, at least, not with the way its few romantic subplots were handled in the past. 

But it says a lot that everyone immediately fears how Romelle will affect ships when there are plenty of other possbilities for her character, such as the gift of Allura finally having another Altean to relate with. An Altean girl that’s more or less her own age too, that’s amazing!! I’d love to see Allura explaining to her what Altea and Orianda were like, or even just Romelle playing with the space mice. Learning how to build new Altean tech with Coran. There’s tons of potential there. Hell, it seemed that Bandor built that communicator, right? Maybe Romelle likes helping Pidge tinker with things because it reminds her of her brother. Maybe she asks Krolia to teach her how to fight so she can be part of the coalition. I just think there’s lots of options for growth if the writers want to take it–though again, I believe she’ll be a side character. 

This isn’t even addressing what the show runners have said about Romelle, which is that she is essentially an entirely different character, because the original Romelle wasn’t what they needed for their story:

Lauren: “I always loved the character Romelle, and I was really excited to bring her back. And you know, we’ve really abandoned her being an Allura doppleganger. That wasn’t what we need in our show, so we were really able to differenciate those characters a lot more so we didn’t have two characters looking exactly the same. And that was fun. Bandor was also fun–they just kind of came from some crazy Grecian planet in Voltron.” (source). 

So yeah, I think it’s fair to say that Romelle’s going to continue to be a character independent from both her DOTU and Golion incarnations. And I really don’t think fans should be so terrified of a romantic subplot added by DOTU, to be honest. Also, she’s very cute, and I adore her,, 

[foxpapa]

Il fascino della "Capri Classica" 

Maestosi ed eleganti, navigano nel mare di Capri mostrando il fascino della storia, di cui sono fieri ambasciatori: sono i velieri d’epoca che prendono parte alla regata Capri Classica

Giganteschi schooner (imbarcazioni con due alberi) che raccontano la passione dei rispettivi armatori: dall’8 all’11 maggio le acque dell’isola azzurra, con gli scorci più riconoscibili, sono diventati il teatro naturale di una gara che esibisce soprattutto l’intramontabile bellezza di velieri come Mariette (1914) e Orianda (1937), Puritan (1930) e Naema, replica di una nave a vela del 1938. La sfida è appassionante e regala la suggestione di cartoline senza tempo: nata da un'idea del comandante Simon Pandolfi e del team di The Classic Yacht Experience, la Capri Classica – che di fatto introduce alla Rolex Capri Sailing Week - è organizzata dallo Yacht Club di Capri e dal Circolo Remo e Vela Italia con il patrocinio dell'International Schooner Association e della International Maxi Association

Foto Studio Borlenghi

di PASQUALE RAICALDO

[darkspellmaster]

Voltron Theory: The connection between Romelle, Lotor and Allura

So something that has been bothering me for a while now regarding the situation with Voltron since Lotor’s been introduced is the connection between him and Allura, and now that we have Romelle introduced I think it’s time I tackle this issue.

Let me begin by saying that I don’t hate Lotor. I think he’s an awesome villain and one that has been under loved for a long time. While, yes, he was a cackling 80s villain there was still a lot of nuance to him, and, because it was the 80s it was missed, or looked over, in most cases. Now with the new series people have seen how awesome a bad guy he can be, and yet, they’re defending his actions even though, and again, let’s be honest here, Lotor’s plan was dumb from the beginning. The thing about Lotor here, and why I feel I need to start with him on this post is because he’s the connecting link right now between our two ladies: Romelle and Allura.

While a lot of people are complaining that Romelle is lying or that she’s spreading misinformation about Lotor, I think that we’re missing the big picture here. We don’t have all the pieces yet, and I don’t believe she is lying at all. On the contrary I think she’s telling what she believes to be true, and that I have to point to Lotor for causing her to have that misinformation in the first place.

What do I mean, well, put simply, I don’t think that Lotor was the founder of the colony, nor do I think that Romelle is just a simple Altean, and I think the three: Romelle, Lotor, and Allura are connected through one major factor, that being Allura’s mom and her side of the family.

Allow me to explain. See I’ve been going over and over again in my mind just how the hell Lotor knows anything about his Altean heritage. It’s really baffeling because of the fact that the Galra would want to wipe the Altean’s off the face of the Universe. And yet, he knows how to read Altean, how the language works, how they shape shift, even about stuff that Allura doesn’t, which is weird and has been since he’s come into play.

Now one may argue that Lotor gathered his info from Honerva. The problem with this is how that could have been done, since Honerva had become Haggar. We know, thanks to Season six, that Honerva didn’t remember anything about herself, nor that she fully had a kid (or rather she kind of did know she had a kid but didn’t, it’s still not fully clear on that). It’s only been recently that she’s been able to understand all of it and put things together. Yet, Lotor knows a ton about her and her works and about being Altean.

One could assume then that maybe he found some videos of her working, which would explain him knowing about her experiments. Maybe he found books in her lab, but Haggar wouldn’t have let him in there as a child, even if he were to sneak in. Also, given that we know she didn’t remember her past, it would be hard to believe that she would keep anything on record about Altea. Also, again, the videos wouldn’t cover the history of Altea. Maybe her desires to go to Orianda, but probably not about how Altea ran and about it’s history. Sure Alfor is probably mentioned, but I would think that’s about it.

So how does Lotor know about the Alteans so well? One could say well he traveled a lot and found ancient books on it. Sure, okay, but how would he know how to read it? Honerva’s vids? I don’t think so. Again that doesn’t fit in with the work she was doing there at the time, and anyone watching the recording would have had to have had an understanding of the science behind what was being done and the language to read the reports. Remember we saw Pidge actively trying to learn Altean so she could fix things better, and it would make sense that Lotor would do the same. Except that we know that the Galra were actively destroying Altean history as part of Zarkon’s mad plans.

So where does that leave us? Well I have two ideas both of which are connected to Allura, since right now that’s the largest connection we have for Lotor (and I will get back to Romelle’s connection to this in a moment). The first one is a bit harder to prove since we don’t have anything to rely on, but the second, I think there’s enough out there in the show in regard to markings that we could make some serious guesses.

Let me start with the first one, that being Lotor learned what he learned from Allura’s Mother.

Now before anyone goes, “But How?” let me point out that we don’t know what happened to her mom. We saw her pre Allura’s birth and then post Allura’s birth, but then only memories of her dad during season one. The thing is that Allura never indicated that her mother died. We know that she misses her, but if she did pass on, we don’t know when. We do know that she was apparently around when Alfor had a beard and everything. So it’s clear that she didn’t die young.

Allura’s statue of her parents show Alfor as an older man with his wife. This brings up how long Altean’s live, and my guess is that it’s longer than standard earth life, given the implication that we see how long Alfor looked young for regarding the birth of his daughter. I don’t think they live as long as Haggar did naturally, but I don’t think it’s beyond conceivable that the life could be partly elongated and maybe naturally longer than what we consider earth life. Think Elves vs Humans, but shorter timespan than the elves.

Anyway, we can now safely assume that Allura’s mother did not die off early in her life. So what could have happened to her? We have been going on the assumption that Zarkon killed them all off, but that’s not true, as we’ve come to see with Romelle and the colony. Given that Zarkon killed Alfor in battle, we can assume before he blew up the place he probably looked around for things. Now, you may say, “Why keep the Queen Alive?” Well for the very purpose that having the royal hostage would mean no one would be willing to attack Zarkon so long as one of the royal family members are alive. This would mean that he was blackmailing all the rest of the living Alteans would could possibly start a fight. And we know that they were around in disguises.

An example that we can point to is the member of the colilition last season that has Altean markings. We saw when Lotor approached some random Alteans in disquise that they were using their shape changing abilities. This would mean that there are those out there that, out of fear for their own lives, probably kept the ruse up and taught their children the same. Meaning that there’s probably more Alteans out there than just the colony.

So how does Allura’s mother come into play? Zarkon, as shown, is cruel but also not Cruel. What I mean is that on the one hand he’s a monster when it comes to taking planet life, but, for the most part, he’s left races alone that have agreed to stay under the Galra banner. He’s mostly let them live in peace, and he’s shown, at points, to not be as crazy as his wife. As we’ve seen he can be benevolent, and while he probably hated Alfor, he more than likely had no ill will for the Queen, and would have kept her alive.

We’ve also been assuming that Alfor was the one that did all the magic in the family, that he’s the one that had the skills. But the only time we’ve seen Coran speak of Alfor doing this level of magic was with the Balmara. Also Coran, who was Alfor’s best friend, didn’t know about his trip to Orianda. But what if this was all backwards, and Lotor’s been painting the picture wrong for Allura this whole time because of the fact that he knew of her love for her father? What if the real Alchemist of the family is her mother?

Humor me here for a second. Let’s say that Alfor married the Queen and knew she was someone who was an alchemist. Lotor’s been the only one that has been pushing this factor about Alfor, and yet, in the flashbacks with him, we’ve never seen him exhibit that level of power before. So what if, Alfor wasn’t the one that imbued the lions with Altean magic. What if, during the time while they were being made on Altea (and before they were brought to Daibazaal) Allura’s mother used her skills as an alchemist to make sure that they had connections to Orianda so that they wouldn’t be used for nefarious purposes, by later pilots.

So, perhaps Zarkon learned of this, between the time that he was still good and the point where he went crazy. Recall that Zarkon told them to save Lotor after he was born, and people assumed that he was put in that weird place where the two of them got their power. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if, and again humor me, Allura’s mother, who was being held captive, was the one that saved the baby since Haggar was too weak at the time. It would explain also why Lotor turned blue the first time he tried to access the rift as, perhaps, some of Allura’s mom’s power still is part of him.

Excluding that aspect of Lotor having some power from Allura’s mom, we can probably guess that, if she was the one that saved him, she may have cleared him of his illness.

Now we know that Lotor was taught about the Galra from his governess Daiack (Dyack? Diak?) who, as we’ve seen, knows a lot about Galra history, but nothing about Altea. So we can cross her off the list. But what if during that time that Lotor was growing up, he went to see Allura’s mother who told him of Alfor, Honerva, and maybe of her daughter even. Remember, Lotor certainly wasn’t surprised to hear Allura’s name, as it seemed he heard of her. It could be possible then that her mom taught him about his Altean side, and maybe started, unfortunately, in his mind the process that later turned him into what he is now. I’m assuming she passed on, but maybe she gave him clues as to how to look and learn about the Alteans.

Then, over the years as he grew, he studied about them and came up with his plans, as a means of creating the world that Allura’s mother wanted to return.

This would then connect Allura and Lotor via her mother and deepen their connection there.

The other option is another Altean played the same role to Lotor. In this case this person gave him more info in regard to the history on a less personal level and let him build his own view point on Altea. But the same ending transpired in this case and Lotor, wanting to create a haven where he could feel loved and accepted for being the Halfling that he is, started his search for the Alteans. I’ll get more into this in a moment.

And then there’s Romelle.

One of the things I noticed about the story that she was telling was the way that she told it. She said that people were taught this version very young, meaning that Lotor didn’t give the whole version of the story that passed down over the generations. Now, again, assuming that Lotor was taught a lot by Allura’s mom, most of what he would have created for the Altean’s would have resembled what she most remembered about Altea. And, like Allura, we can guess that she loved the flowers and the fields there. However something about the whole thing just feels off to me in regard to the idea of the story itself. A lot of the technology we see there is based on the castle and also the fact that there are really old crafts that are Altean. Remember these crafts usually hold up to four people, so how was Lotor able to squirrel them away. We heard his story about how he lived for a year with a culture that was destroyed, replenishing the quintessence and once he was sent away he decided to learn about his heritage. Which again, brings back the question of who explained what he was to him?

Again there are two options here in regard to Romelle’s story.  The first is the one that she tells. That Lotor discovered the Alteans and brought them to the location they were at on the colony and over the next several generations built the colony we see today. However there are a lot of issues if it’s just Lotor’s doing. How was he hiding the material they needed from the Galra? When was he able to keep out of Zarkon’s view? And, again, where did he learn all this stuff if a lot about Altea gets destroyed?

Which again brings me back to my two options. I’m going to simply option one, that being that it was a Random Altean that did all this and that they were not that important to the story at hand. Basically what option two and three give are pretty much what Option one would be, minus some of the significance here.

So option two. Assuming that Lotor did not have Allura’s mom as his teacher back when he was younger, we can then cover the possibility of option two here. That there was someone else from Altea that escaped at the time due to travel. We haven’t seen anything of Allura’s mother’s or father’s family. We know from the original series that Allura did have an Aunt and that she did have a distant cousin in King Kobra. Now there is that option here. Let’s say that either Allura’s Mom or her Father Alfor, had a relation that was part of the royal family but not high rank (a cousin or something) who worked as part of the Trade area of the country. This would mean that the person, male or female, could have easily been off planet when the destruction occurred. If we assume that the queen was either captured or killed, then it’s not that hard to see this person, who isn’t a fighter, setting up a plan to help protect as many altean’s as possible. They got the word out to hide and, in the meantime, tried to find a place to set up shop for the Alteans.

During that time they found a world that was beyond the Abyss that could work to build a colony, or had been creating little pockets around so that it could happen later. Long story short, said person later met with Lotor whom they taught all about their altean heritage to, and he later, after his mentor’s passing, went on to create the colony based on the plans that the person had. Or the person helped him with it and together they created the haven for the Alteans, and only after the person’s passing did Lotor start his plans.

This person could easily have been directly related to Romelle as we’ve seen two Alteans who have had a lot of prominent shots in the episode of the Colony and they match up the order that Romelle mentions her parents leaving, mother than father, and also both bear the right sort of markings. A darker pink color for the male who is a lighter shade, and a green blue marking on the female. Now, you may say. But they have the wrong hair color, and indeed they do. But outside of Allura, we haven’t seen the color of hair of children of two Alteans of different hair color. We see a child in the flash back with green hair, but her mother’s hair is white pink. The outfit colors also match the outfits that Bandor and Romelle wear and are similar in nature to their children’s. It’s also kind of clear that both Romelle and her father are wearing a unique sort of belt that only one other male character in the back is wearing, but we’ll get to that later.

Why I bring any of this up is because we see these two people as some of the early settlers on the Colony and the fact that they are standing out so much, makes me think that the female may either be related to Romelle and Bandor, and given the color schemes of the parents, it’s not that hard to wonder if there’s some relation to Allura’s parents on Romelle’s mom’s side.

The other option is a bit trickier but makes sense as well, and may have a stronger hint. At least until we get some moments regarding Allura’s Mother.

So assuming that she didn’t die on world, nor that she was captured by the Galra, one could assume that the Queen got spirited away. Now, if she did get off world, how exactly was she not captured? Well she is a shape shifter too, so hiding in plain sight isn’t that hard. And, given what we see on the colony in regard to how the Altean’s age, and if they have a natural type of Quintessence that allows them to age more slowly, then one can point to the idea that the Queen was around for quiet a long while.

Naturally of course she would want to protect her people, but as she’s an alchemist and not a fighter like her husband, she probably didn’t want to stand out, so she hid. During the next several years, I doubt she was sitting around and doing nothing. So my theory goes like this. After escaping and if she is the Alchemist, she slowly rounded up others in regard to finding a safe place away from the Galras. We know that Coran was Alfor’s assistant, but it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the Queen may have had her own (family or not) that helped her out.

One can assume someone with her level of Alchemic magic may have gone and set up the colony and brought people there slowly over time. It seems odd that Lotor could easily get past the dangers there as we saw that the ship that Keith and Krolia were on was wrecked, and the Galra do not have the same skills as the Alteans in regard to magic to keep creatures at bay. So exactly how did he find this place without being wrecked, it doesn’t add up.

Unless, that is he was helped.

Let’s say that the Queen ended up on the same world Lotor did. During this time they became friends, though he didn’t know she was Allura’s mother. Over the year he spent there with her he came to learn about the planet and it’s culture and everything seemed okay. Until Zarkon ruined it. Allura’s mom would have known and realized that Lotor was part Galra and told him the story about Honerva, and her past. Of course Lotor would want to know everything about his other side and the Queen probably provided him with that info. The two bonded and she taught him about the Alteans and their history. Eventually the two became close enough that she told Lotor about her plan to hide away her people, and he agreed to help, wanting to be in a place where he could feel at home.

The two worked together to find the Alteans, Lotor doing a lot of the leg work as she was probably a lot older at the time, and eventually helped to create a ship to transport the Alteans to the location of the Colony. Hiding transports and other things so that, if shit went down, they could leave to find a new place. However, probably after her death, something happened that caused Lotor to decide to pull his scheme. Now my guess is that it may have been some sort of vision in the Abyss that showed him as being a ruler in the future of the Alteans (and I think that may have ties to him going through the rift to the other side and hooking up with Merla).

This may have lead to his plans. As for the connection to Romelle on this, well, it could be that again, her family may have ties to the queen, either through friendship or via family. It would make sense that she would want to keep what remains of her family safe, and where else would be better.

Now, it’s not hard to assume that Lotor eventually altered the story, removing his mentor so that he could have the lead in all this. But honestly this seems to fit the most.

TLDR: Allura’s mother somehow has a connection to Lotor and could be a relative of Romelle, which is why she was able to open the hanger as well as the fact that Bandor was able to make a communication device like that, even though it’s prohibited.

[averykeats]

finch. you don't have to answer this, but i gotta ask anyway. where... did you come from? - finch

Orianda. I’ve been on the road for a few months now, but... it’s kinda hard to keep track of how long, or in which direction.

[orlenvalanci]

I got mixed up in a minor territory dispute between factions of Orianda, accidentally transported a very illegal substance across three country borders, and found a critically endangered hatchling dragonet in my luggage, among many, many other events. F

gods, that all sounds exciting. i've just been doing the same thing i always do

[yachtingboat]

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

Les Voiles d’Antibes is one of the pinnacle sailing events of the summer season. The annual sailing regatta, which has been sponsored for the last two years by global yacht management and brokerage group Hill Robinson, normally takes place at the beginning of June to herald the beginning of the Mediterranean summer season. This year the event has been postponed to new dates in September as a result of the global pandemic.

The new dates for Les Voiles d’Antibes, 16-20 September, place the event fittingly just before the Cannes regatta and Monaco Yacht Show, and as a result Hill Robinson hopes to see more sailing yachts in attendance at the prestigious event than ever before. 

As Europe steadily begins to open up for charter and various ports lift quarantine measures, September looks to be a busier month than anticipated. Yachting enthusiasts will seek to compensate for lost time and reunite at this landmark occasion to demonstrate the resilience of an industry ignited by a passion for the sea. 

Over 50 classic yachts will set sail around the stunning coast of Antibes, with notable names on the water including S/Y Tuiga and S/Y Orianda. Amongst these will be counted the Hill Robinson partners and their own sailing yachts, of course, in celebration of the true spirit of sailing on which the company was founded. Nick Hill comments, ''Niall and I first met sailing on classic yachts before we started our business and it is immensely satisfying for us to be not only sponsoring this wonderful regatta but sailing our own modest yachts in this event. As our company slogan proudly says, we 'Love the Sea'."

Whether you are attending for the sailing or simply to soak in the genial atmosphere, there promises to be something for everyone at Port Vauban during the 5 days of vibrant festivities. From live music to events, the town of Antibes will once more come alive with the spirit of camaraderie for the 25th edition of this classic regatta. 

Waving the flag for the event and everything it represents to the yachting industry of course is Hill Robinson, whose Antibes office is just a stone’s throw from Port Vauban. Hill Robinson’s support for Les Voiles d’Antibes is in keeping with its company ethos to facilitate a smoother and improved yachting experience in every way, bolstered by a breadth of services and passionate team of staff. Despite having expanded to claim a global strategic presence, the Hill Robinson Antibes office remains its beating heart; fittingly located at the epicentre of this town whose passion for the sea and maritime history dates back centuries.

For those not looking to miss out on this highlight of the yachting calendar, it is not too late to enter - go to Les Voiles d’Antibes website to register your yacht. As a restless industry looks to return to the seas once more, this year’s edition certainly looks to be the most exciting yet.

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

A Return to the Seas: 25th Les Voiles d'Antibes New Dates

[otmacamera]

Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna giving out eggs to schoolgirls with her children at the Livadia Palace, 27th March 1912.

27th March. Tuesday. Went for a walk with Anya to Orianda. It's warm in the sun, cold in the shade. Before breakfast, Mama gave eggs to schoolgirls. Had breakfast with us : Konyushkov, Batyushka, Kozhevnikov and Butakov. In the afternoon, walked with Mama, him, NP, Rodionov and Anya and drank tea. Papa went for a walk. Had dinner with Papa, Mama, Fredericks and Mme Zizi.

(1912 Diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna)

Photo from : Tsar Nicholas II 1911-1913 Album